Robocalls witness needs help with $800 legal bill

The key witness in the Guelph “robocalls” trial has sent an email to supporters seeking donations to help him cover $800 in legal expenses.

Andrew Prescott, whose was deputy campaign manager on the 2011 Guelph federal Conservative campaign, gave evidence after reaching an immunity deal with Crown prosecutors in the case against Michael Sona.

Prescott testified that Sona had walked through the campaign office, exultantly repeating “it’s working” when a robocall went out to opposition supporters, fraudulently directing them to the wrong polling location. But even the Crown acknowledged that Prescott’s testimony was of limited value since his memory of events in 2011 seemed to change as time went by.

On Thursday, Prescott sent an email to friends thanking them for their support and seeking help with his legal bill.

“It’s been a very long and hard two and a half years, which is when this whole fiasco in the media began,” Prescott wrote, going on to complain about friends who “turned their backs” on him.

Prescott thanks the recipients of the email for standing by him, advising him to “make sure I had proper and sound legal advice.” Prescott expresses gratitude to the “remarkably generous” Guelph defence lawyer Matt Stanley, who only billed him for a few hours of work.

But Prescott says he could use a little financial help, since he is buying a new house.

“I’m confident that with a little here and a little there, this burden will not be nearly as painful as I had at one time feared.”

Prescott writes that he may return to active involvement in politics eventually.

“I’m out of the picture in terms of politics, keeping somewhat of a lower profile, but hoping that we still have a chance to cross paths, especially with all the rebuilding and renewal that’s going on provincially (in both Ontario and Alberta) and federally as we ramp up into the next election cycle.”

Asked about the email on Monday, Prescott wrote that “a lot of innocent people were caught in the crossfire over this, at significant personal cost, including myself. Loss of income, tarnished reputation, moving expenses, and ultimately legal expenses all take their toll physically and emotionally.”

Prescott has said that he lost his job at Guelph’s St. Joseph’s Health Centre in 2012 in the fallout from the investigation. Court documents showed that he had accessed campaign accounts from an IP address at the hospital. He subsequently moved to Calgary where he started a new job in information technology.

Sona went on trial last month on a single Elections Act charge stemming from the robocall affair. The judge has not yet rendered a verdict.

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